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Basic Sandwich
Plot ?!|Dean Pelton}} End tag Recurring themes Continuity *'And we're back!': This episode is the second part of the Season Five finale and picks up where the previous one left off. *'Familiar faces': **Chris Elliot makes his official debut as Russell Borchert; he was seen in the previous episode in a portrait. **The Subway rep returns in this episode. **Actress Amber Tamblyn appears alongside Chang, Richie and Carl as part of a show on NBC's new schedule called "Thought Jacker". In real life she is married to David Cross who guest starred on the Season Five episode "Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons". **Actor/comedian/television writer B.J. Novak also appears in the episode end tag as the star of another show called "Mr. Egypt". **Musician Questlove of The Roots appears as the host of another show called "Celebrity Beatoff". **The second Subway corprohumanoid is briefly seen in this episode. *'History lesson': Russell Borchert and Greendale history are elaborated on. He was a genius computer programmer who became wealthy from a 9 track player he invented back in the 1970's. He used that money to create the school which was originally known as the Greendale Computery School. Russell disappeared after a scandal broke out about his unnatural love for computers. *'Returning faculty': Richie and Carl return. *'Previously': Richie mentions the school's "paintballs" hinting at the Season One episode "Modern Warfare" and the Season Two episodes "A Fistful of Paintballs" and "For A Few Paintballs More". He also mentions "freeze tag" and is corrected by Shirley the game was Hot Lava which is referencing the Season Five episode "Geothermal Escapism". *'Returning students': Star-Burns returns in this episode. *'This must be the place': Group Study Room F, Dean Pelton's office, the Teachers' lounge, the Student lounge and the cafeteria are all seen in this episode. *'School song/Replay': "Ants Marching" by the Dave Mathews Band is played once more by Star-Burns echoing a scene on the previous episode "Basic Story". *'Googly eyes': **Jeff and Britta announce their engagement to everyone. Throughout the episode they try and pretend to be more mature about the Greendale situation than everyone else. In those instances they act overly romantic towards one another. However, when there is hope the school might be saved they fall back into their usual dynamic of bickering. **Annie is hurt by Jeff's engagement but pointedly lets him know that whatever decisions he makes she will accept and support. **Abed believes Annie was going to lean in to kiss him and reminds her he has a girlfriend. **When a burst of passion is needed to power the computer enough to open the door, Jeff manages to make this happen by focusing on Annie. (This was confirmed on DVD commentaries and in a a tweet writer Ryan Ridley). *'Climax': **The Save Greendale Committee accomplishes their goal to save the school and prevents it from being sold to Subway. **Community was officially cancelled by NBC the following month on May 9, 2014 bringing an end to its five year run on network television. Several months later on June 30, 2014, the internet corporation Yahoo announced it would be picking up the show for a sixth season on its online streaming video service Yahoo Screen. *Winger speech: Annie delivers the lesson to be learned to the committee although part of it is directed towards Jeff. Running gags *'Board certified tutor': Richie Countee believes himself to have psychic powers. While the majority of the mind reading he did of Buzz was mostly inaccurate, he was actually right about there being a hang glider in his thoughts. *'Britta'd': After Annie puts the "Saved Greendale" star in the done section Britta makes a fist with her thumb on top, Abed reaches over and lifts her thumb to change her fist gesture into a thumbs up gesture. *'Man crush': Dean Pelton states he notices how large Jeff is getting. He then believes himself to be the reason behind Jeff's "burst of feelings" unaware it was actually Annie. *'Pansexual imp': Russell Borchert's unusual computer fetish is shown. *'You're the worst!': Buzz and Shirley are called this by Richie for trying to stop the school boards deal with Subway. Pop culture references * Alert nerd!: ** The vault is located on a blueprint as being in "Sub-Level 3"; In Aliens the marines use a blueprint to locate the colonists as being in Sub-Level 3 of the atmosphere processor (which turns out to be the xenomorph nesting site). *'Current events': When Dean Pelton searches the sub basement he nearly chokes on a missile from a toy rocket launcher. This is a reference to the 1979 prototype of the Kenner Star Wars action figure Boba Fett which had a similar feature. After the feature was deemed a choking hazard it was removed. An article on the history of the action figure can be read HERE. *'Shout out': **Actors Elliot Gould and Donald Sutherland are mentioned. The question of which actor was hotter was a topic of a Greendale debate back in the 1970's. Both Jeff and Pelton agree that it was Sutherland. **When Abed sees Russell Borchert he informs him that Dennis Hopper is dead and Woody Allen voiced a cartoon ant. The latter news sends Borchert into a frenzy. *'TV Guide': **The 1970's science fiction show "Bionic Woman" is mentioned by Dean Pelton. He also notes it won an Emmy. **The NBC sitcom "The Office" is mentioned. When it aired was known for having a number of "super-sized" one hour episodes which Dean Pelton comments on. *'Use your allusion': The Subway rep says "Subway, Ho!" to rally his employees. This is a possible reference to the 1980's cartoon "Thundercats" where the lead character Lion-O yelled "Thundercats, Ho!" to rally the Thundercats he led. Meta references *'Up against the wall': **'Abed apologizes to Annie for missing her birthday, Halloween, Christmas, and other major holidays. This is a reference to the lack of holiday themed episodes in Season Five which was possibly done in order to avoid another Season Four situation. That year NBC rescheduled the debut of the show to February from its announced November date. All of the holiday themed episodes were aired long after that particular festivity had been celebrated. **Abed tells Annie that the group will definitely be back next year, and if not it will be due to a giant asteroid. He then says it's "canon" and stares straight at the camera. This is a reference to the uncertainty of the show being renewed. **During the end tag, several fake NBC pilots are said to be on in the "...fall, winter, or spring". Depends on what fails!" This is another reference to Community's start date (and also renewal) depending on the success of other NBC pilots. Reception 'Critical reaction Tim Surette, tv.com: Eric Goldman, IGN: Alan Sepinwall, HitFix: Todd VanDerWerff, A.V. Club: Dave Bunting, Vulture: Matt Carter, cartermatt.com: Randy Dankievitch, Sound on Sight: Aisha Harris. Slate: Polar Bear, Polar Bears Watch TV: Tim Morse, Morse Code: Damon Houx, ScreenCrush: Joe Matar, Den of Geek: Brian Collins, Badass Digest: Laurel Brown, zap2it: Untempered Television: Nick O'Malley, masslive.com: Lauren Stern, Pop Break: Jennifer Marie, Just About Write: }} Ratings "Basic Sandwich" was watched by 2.87 million American viewers and received a 1.0/4 share in the 18-49 demographic. It placed third out of fifth in its time slot behind CBS's "The Big Bang Theory" and Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" and above ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and The CW's "Vampire Diaries" respectively (zap2it.com). The ratings rose from the previous episode "Basic Story" which garnered a series low of 0.9/3. Quotes Category:Community Episodes Category:Season 5 Episodes Category:Season Finales